Transform your garden in a jiffy: you can achieve this with quick-growing plants

by Mark Bennett

June 06, 2024

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The plants you cultivate in your garden can serve various purposes: giving you privacy, providing shade and beautifying your property. And if you are in a hurry to realize these benefits, then you should choose to raise quick-growing, ornamental plants. We list a few of these plants for you below:

1. Canna

orange canna indica flower against a background of burgundy leaves

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Do you want an eye-catching plant that fills a flowerbed, towering above the bushes? If so, choose one of the varieties of canna indica (aka Indian shot or African arrowroot). This plant needs well-draining soil and lots of sunlight to thrive. 

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2. Nasturtiums

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Able to grow even in gaps between bricks or rocks, nasturtiums are beautiful when grown in planters. But nasturtiums can also cover walls or be a great ground-cover plant, In short, this is not a "fussy" plant, looks beautiful and is edible too! If you have this plant in your garden, don't be surprized if new ones pop up in unexpected places!

3. Morning Glory (Ipomoea)

morning glory flower

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Colloquially called "Morning Glory" because it opens its bell-shaped flowers in the morning, Ipomoea closes its flowers at night. These flowers are usually a blue-violet color, but there are also pink or white varieties. Ipomoea is a creeper with thin stems and grows very quickly. Being a delicate plant, it is an easy creeper to manage (unlike ivy, for example). Ipomoea also needs a lot of sunlight.

4. Photinia

red-leafed foliage of a photinia plant

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One of the most popular hedging plants, photinia is always a wonderful sight to behold. Its leaves are a bright red in spring - especially if placed in good sunlight - and it also produces truly splendid, white flowers (especially if you don't prune it back too much).

5. Butterfly Tree (Buddleja)

Purple buddleja flower

@katsuhiko.takahashi.3150/Instagram

It's called the butterfly tree, but it is actually a shrub that can grow to considerable size. It is true, however, that it is a plant much beloved by butterflies - and other pollinating insects. It grows in many different climates, but it prefers a sunny location in order to produce an abundance of flowers (which will usually be surrounded by a "cloud" of butterflies!). 

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Hostas

different varieties of hostas in a flowerbed

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If, however, the area you want to decorate with spectacular plants is in partial shade, then consider Hostas. Both in large pots and in open ground, these plants are beautiful to look at: there is a near-infinite number of varieties of hostas with leaves in many different shapes and colors that you can chose from. In winter, they almost always lose their vertical stems - but these return in spring as the plant grows bigger. Not a "fussy" plant, be advised that hostas do not like acidic soil. When they bloom (usually in the summer), their flowers look like miniature irises.

7. Spirea (Spiraea x arguta)

close-up of Spirea x Arguta flowers

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Another scenic shrub, there are actually many different varieties of Spirea. Shown here, is the Spiraea x arguta variety which needs well-draining soi and good exposure to sunlight (but can also tolerate partial shade). This plant's "clusters" of white flowers light up any garden and look like a fireworks display!

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8. Cornus (Cornus florida "Rubra")

pink flowers of the cornus florida

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The Florida "Rubra" is one variety of the cornus which produces pink flowers (it's actually a bit of a misnomer to call them "rubra"/ruby). The cornus is, in fact, a small tree and is perfect for low-maintenance gardens. Additionally, the cornus can withstand very cold temperatures!

9. Inch plant (Tradescantia zebrina)

a tradescantia zebrina plant in a suspended planter

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The Tradescantia Zebrina is a robust, quick-growing, perennial herbaceous plant: it can take root practically everywhere, and propagates very rapidly (which is why it's commonly called an "inch plant"). T. zebrina is very popular ground-cover plant but also looks great in suspended/hanging planters!

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10. Forsythia

forsythia plants in a front garden

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Forsythia is a very vigorous shrub, which blooms in April, producing wonderful, yellow flowers. It can be used for borders, in the center of flowerbeds, along embankments and more: it is easy to cultivate and grows very quickly; after its first year, it becomes almost completely self-sufficient.

Which of these plants will you choose for your garden?

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